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READ THIS
A pride of lions is attacked by poachers. The game rangers from the park must investigate and then
attempt to capture and do surgery on the bad tempered lion which has been somehow wounded.
READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE:
The wounded lioness and the male at her side got over the knife-rim of the dune and started to go down
the heavy hot sand that stood their weight a moment as if congealed and then suddenly flowed under their
pads, a thick shiny red liquid. The truck was now out of sight and making a whining noise trying to rush
the wind-slope of the dune. In front of the lions was the wide ash-grey floor and beyond it another great
hump of red dune running out of sight both ways to the dancing shimmer of the horizon, dune behind
endless sand-dune to the furthermost edge of the desert. No trees -- the stunted hummocks of dwarf
camel-thorn and blue-bush and sparse shining-hair grass -- ash and silver and blue under the lowering
sun.
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
Why was the lioness wounded? (2)
[Need help?]
The lion and lioness were being hunted by poachers who shot repeatedly at the pair, injuring the lioness
which later died of her wounds.
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What is meant by the "knife-rim of the dune"? What figure of speech is being used? (4)
[Need help?]
The top of the sand-dune forms a long and sharp ridge which can be compared to the sharp blade of a
knife. This is a metaphor.
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". . . the heavy hot sand that stood their weight a moment as if congealed and then suddenly flowed
under their pads, a thick shiny red liquid."
- What figure of speech is being used here? (1)
[Need help?]
We are looking here at a SUSTAINED METAPHOR (sometimes known as an EXTENDED METAPHOR).
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- What is being compared to what? (2)
[Need help?]
The sand, presumably reddish in colour, is compared to congealing blood. With the weight of the lions
upon it, it slides and sends the animals slipping down the slope.
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- Is this a good comparison. Explain carefully. (4)
[Need help?]
It would seem to be a very good metaphor.
If one considers that the lions are injured and they themselves are running red with blood, a comparison
of the red sand to congealed blood would seem to be quite appropriate.
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"The truck was now out of sight and making a whining noise trying to rush the wind-slope of the
dune."
- What was the truck doing in the desert? (2)
[Need help?]
The truck was carrying a load of poachers who were attempting to kill the lions so as to take their skins
(or heads) as trophies.
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- Why was it trying to rush the dune? (2)
[Need help?]
The lions made their escape over the top of the sand-dune. The truck tried to follow but had to rush the
slope in order to make any headway on the sliding sand.
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- What is meant by "wind-slope"? (2)
[Need help?]
The wind-slope is the slope facing the wind. It is usually the more gentle side.
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- Why would the truck be trying to go up that side rather than up the opposite slope? (4)
[Need help?]
It is usually the more gentle side. The wind carries sand up the more gentle wind-slope and deposits it at
the top, or it falls over the sharp knife edge of the top and it falls down the other side.
The leeward side of the slope is then much steeper than the wind-slope side.
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Did the lions escape? Explain. (4)
[Need help?]
The two lions succeeded in escaping the poachers by hiding in a patch of thick green bush. The poachers
were hesitant to follow them lest they themselves be trapped by the game rangers.
The lion spent his time licking the lioness's wounds, but during the night she died.
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The sole exception is for educational institutions which may wish to reproduce
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